North Korea blew up the inter-Korean liaison office in Gaeseong, Tuesday afternoon, following through on an earlier threat to do so.
The Ministry of Unification confirmed that the North had blown up the office at 2:49 p.m. following reports of an explosion and smoke from the Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC).
The office, set up in September 2018, was one outcome of the Panmunjeom Declaration announced April 27 that year after the first summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The office was set up to facilitate inter-Korean projects and joint events, and to support working-level negotiations between the two Koreas; but it had been non-operational since January this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The demolition came three days after Kim's powerful sister Kim Yo-jong issued a statement threatening hostilities, including military action, to protest anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent across the border from the South by North Korean defectors and activists.
“Before long, a tragic scene of the useless South-North joint liaison office completely collapsed will be seen,” she said then.
About three hours after the explosion, the North's Korean Central News Agency said the country “completely ruined” the office.
Cheong Wa Dae condemned the explosion, saying Seoul would take firm action if Pyongyang continued measures that hurt inter-Korean ties.
“The South Korean government today expressed strong regret over the North blowing up the South-North joint liaison office building opened under the 2018 Panmunjeom Declaration. The North's destruction of the office is a violation of everyone's expectations for the development of inter-Korean relations and the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Kim You-geun, first deputy director of the National Security Council (NSC), said in a media briefing after an emergency meeting presided over by Chung Eui-yong, President Moon's national security adviser.
“The government has made it clear that the North is fully responsible for all incidents that may occur because of this (explosion). We sternly warn that, if the North continues to take steps to aggravate the situation, we will respond strongly,” Kim said
Vice Unification Minister Suh Ho, the South Korean head of the liaison office, also said the destruction was an unacceptable act, adding the government was lodging a strong protest.
“The bellicose rhetoric, the unilateral cutting of communication channels and the demolition of the liaison office shocked not only South Koreans but also the whole world,” Suh said. “North Korea will have to take responsibility for this act.”
Following the explosion, the Ministry of National Defense said it had intensified the readiness posture of the armed forces to respond to any situation in areas around the military demarcation line (MDL).
It vowed to respond strongly to any possible provocation by the North. “Regarding the current security situation, the
South Korean military is maintaining a firm military readiness posture by closely monitoring the North Korean military's movements around the clock, and is making every effort to prevent the military crisis from escalating,” the ministry said in a statement after the NSC meeting.
Earlier in the day, through a statement released by the Korean Central News Agency, the North Korean military threatened to re-enter border areas that were demilitarized under inter-Korean agreements, and raise its “military vigilance” on the South.
“We have received requests from the ruling party to review an action plan to re-enter zones that were demilitarized under the North-South agreement, fortify the front lines, and take measures to further strengthen military vigilance against the South,” the General Staff of the Korean People's Army (KPA) said.
The two Koreas had pledged to cease military hostilities in the border area in 2018 following another summit in Pyongyang.
The KPA said it was fully ready to take action over propaganda leaflets ahead of the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War.
The KPA's statement was seen as scrapping the Sept. 19 military agreement, which Cheong Wa Dae has described as one of the achievements of President Moon's summit diplomacy with the North Korean leader.
The presidential office did not make any direct comment about the North Korea's threat to renege on the military agreement.
A day earlier, President Moon said he would continue to seek talks and cooperation with the North. He made the comments in a statement to mark the 20th anniversary of a landmark agreement to advance inter-Korean ties between former President Kim Dae-jung and the late Kim Jong-il, the incumbent's father.
Criticism is rising that Moon's steadfast commitment to inter-Korean cooperation is ill-timed, but Cheong Wa Dae underlined that it was necessary to take a long-term perspective.
"The speech should be seen as the President's consistent message of trust toward North Korea," a presidential aide told reporters, Tuesday.
Some politicians, such as former presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo, have claimed it is time to return to more active diplomacy with the North, such as sending a special envoy, and preparing a fourth inter-Korean summit.
Moon has invited Kim to Seoul, but he has yet to respond. A senior presidential aide said Tuesday that the proposal for a fourth summit was still valid.